Posture and balance control in patients with acromegaly: Results of a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Acromegaly is a chronic debilitating disease that presents with multiple systemic manifestations, including changes in body composition, joint abnormalities, muscular impairment and visual disturbances. This study aimed to assess posture and body balance in acromegalic patients and to establish the correlation between these measures. Twenty-eight acromegalic patients and a similar number of control subjects matched for sex, age, weight, height and body mass index underwent postural evaluation using the photogrammetry and measurement of balance using the stabilometry in two tasks: feet apart, eyes open and feet together, eyes closed. In comparison with the control group, the acromegalic group presented postural deviations in lateral views in the vertical alignment of the trunk (P=0.001 for the right side and P=0.021 for the left), the hip angle (P=0001 for the right side and P=0.016 for the left side) and horizontal alignment of the pelvis (P=0.017 for the right and P<0.001 for the left side). Compared with healthy subjects, the acromegalic patients presented displacement of the centre of pressure in both the anterior–posterior direction and the medial–lateral direction in both evaluated tasks. We observed significant correlations between balance measures and the following posture evaluation variables: distance between the lower limbs, horizontal alignment of the head and vertical alignment of the head. Our results suggest that posture and balance need to be evaluated for acromegalic patients in clinical practice, as there are significant postural imbalances and deviations in these patients.